The Fall of Guaral was a battle that took place roughly one year and five months after the arrival of Natsuki Subaru into the world, and it is one of the first conflicts in Arc 7. This is one of the earliest battles that took place during the Imperial Civil War, where the dethroned emperor Vincent Vollachia, using the name Abel, initiated a takeover of the Fortress City of Guaral in an effort to establish a new base of operations.
With Subaru needing to return to Lugunica with both Rem and Rui in tow, Abel led him into a trap that would force his hand to become an ally to retake the throne of the Empire. Successfully making him realize the dire straits that he was in, Abel and Subaru were forced to come up with a way to take the city most efficiently and with the least casualties, leading to Subaru’s idea to take the city over while undercover. Ultimately, the idea was a success, and they managed to put the city under their control, though not without a confrontation with the Second Divine General, Arakiya, and receiving reinforcements in the form of Priscilla Barielle and her camp.
Despite Arakiya managing to escape with the assistance of Todd Fang, this fight granted Abel new allies, and the Rebel Army, basing themselves in the newly conquered Guaral, was formed.
Background[]
The Military Encampment Attack[]
Having gained an ally in the People of Shudrak through the Lifeblood Ritual, Abel launched an attack on the military encampment just outside of Buddheim Jungle. Successfully killing a large number of soldiers, he forced them to retreat to the nearby Fortress City. At the same time, they were successfully able to recover Rem and Rui, who in turn were able to heal Subaru, despite his grievous, life-threatening injuries. The following day, when Subaru awoke, he prepared to leave for the very same city, unaware that his enemies had retreated there as well. Rem, on the other hand, was warned of this by Abel, and she was convinced to allow this to happen in order to force Subaru’s hand and make him ally with Abel. Escorted by Kuna and Holly Shudrak, they arrived at the edge of the jungle, where the girls said they’d be watching.
Battle in the Fortress City[]
Shortly after arriving at Guaral, Subaru befriended the merchant, Flop O'Connell, and his sister, Medium O'Connell, and the two helped him into the city. Arriving at an inn that Flop was familiar with, Rem, Rui, and Medium decided to remain within their room. Meanwhile, Subaru and Flop were going to shop for necessities before they could leave the city. Unfortunately, however, Subaru was spotted by an imperial soldier, Todd Fang, who he had become an enemy of shortly before the attack on the military camp. Going through several loops, Subaru yelled at Todd that he knew he was there, successfully warding him away for long enough that Subaru could collect his bearings and prepare to retreat from the city.
Returning to the inn, Subaru had the girls prepare to leave. Jumping aboard their carriage, Medium led them all towards the entrance that they had come through. However, as they made their way that direction, they noticed a roadblock of imperial soldiers led by Jamal Aurélie, who had been warned by Todd. To distract them, Medium attacked them while their carriage made its way through the entrance. Though she struggled with handling Jamal, thanks to Subaru throwing out a rope to grab onto, Medium managed to board the carriage and escape with them.
However, just when they thought they’d escaped, Subaru grabbed one of Medium’s swords and raised above their heads, successfully blocking an aerial strike from Todd, who he predicted would attack while their guard was down. After a short struggle and with some help from Rui, they managed to push Todd out of the carriage, and, realizing the meaning of Holly and Kuna’s words, he called for them to help. With Todd midair, he was unable to dodge as an arrow flew through the air, and he was struck. Though he survived, Subaru’s group managed to escape.
Preparing for a Raid[]
With Subaru’s group having escaped, Todd started making preparations within the city. Believing that Subaru’s bold entrance was as a scouting mission prior to a coming raid, he and Jamal started sealing up any hidden entrances they were aware of within the city, meaning to block off any paths to enter with. Successfully closing off the majority of them, only the city’s main entrances were left to be used, and they were left under heavy security. However, the soldiers there continued to feel increasingly tense and stressed by their situations.
At the Shudrakian village, everyone ultimately reconvened, though Subaru was less than pleased about it. However, because of this, Subaru was forced to ally with Abel until he’d be able to return to Lugunica. With Flop and Medium as allies, the group were forced to collude together. Though Abel praised Flop’s intelligence, he looked down on his idealistic views of wanting to take Guaral with no casualties. After a short conversation with Rem, Subaru managed to find a compromise between both parties, and he came up with a plan that could take the city without any bloodshed.
Siege of Guaral[]
Bloodless Siege[]
With the idea for Subaru, Abel, and Flop to cross dress, they, alongside Kuna and Taritta Shudrak, decided to sneak into the city by disguising them as performers. Though the security was heavy, they managed to sneak into the city successfully. After repeatedly practicing and performing for the span of a week, they were eventually invited by the man in charge of the soldiers, Second Class General Zikr Osman, to perform for the soldiers, who wanted to help relieve the tension building up in his soldiers.
Zikr defeated.
Though they successfully managed to get inside of City Hall where the soldiers were, they had a close call when Jamal and Todd appeared before them. That said, after Jamal and Todd left, they were able to perform for the soldiers, completely ensnaring them in their performance. They were so ensnared, in fact, that Zikr even handed his own sword to the dancing Abel, who in turn pointed that very blade at his throat. Successfully keeping the soldiers there from attacking with the commander at blade point, Abel was soon revealed to be their emperor, and they bowed before him.
With their objective reached, Abel tasked Subaru with burning the flag atop the building. Upon doing so, they took Guaral under their control.
The Spirit Eater’s Arrival[]
With Guaral taken, the remaining forces within Abel’s group filed into City Hall. With Zikr now under his command, he had the soldiers go on their way. With the exception of Subaru, who had been running left and right, Abel’s group returned to their ordinary outfits. However, as they were trying to settle things down, Rui began throwing a fit out of fear, much to the shock of everyone in the room. The reason for this turned out to be the arrival of the Spirit Eater, Arakiya, who had been sent to Guaral by the prime minister, Berstetz Fondalfon. Despite being aware that Abel was the emperor, she still attempted to kill him.
In an attempt to defeat her, Mizelda Shudrak assaulted her. However, she was left severely burned and defeated. Rem and others attempted to attack her as well, but everything they threw was ineffective. Arakiya directed an attack at Rem, to which Subaru jumped in the way of, attempting to take the attack for her. However, the attack was intercepted by Priscilla Barielle, who had arrived in Vollachia following an attack in the Barielle Domain, much to the shock of both Subaru and Abel. Though Arakiya was shocked by her appearance, she was still prepared to attack her. Al, who had accompanied Priscilla, also jumped in on the fight, and though he recognized her, she failed to recognize him thanks to his helmet.
As the battle ensued, Priscilla and Al failed to land any lasting damage against her, as she often turned herself into fire to let damage pass through her, as well as fly. Intending to attack Abel, she unleashed a large gust of wind, blowing the roof off of the building and knocking both Abel and Al, who defended the emperor, off of the floor, leaving them to hang off of a curtain. Priscilla continued to attack Arakiya, and eventually, she landed an attack on Arakiya’s back, successfully leaving a large burned scar.
With Arakiya defeated, Al and Abel returned to the room, and Arakiya was taken to the prison cells beneath the building, leaving Holly to watch over her.
Escape from Guaral[]
Having been outside the building, Todd and Jamal continued making their rounds, making sure to seal any secret passages leading into the city that they may have missed. Despite Todd’s worry, Jamal soon pointed out the burning flag atop City Hall, leaving them both completely shocked. With his enhanced vision, Todd noticed one of the dancers burning the flag, and he pieced together that it was Subaru. With Jamal attempting to return, Todd stopped him, claiming that everyone in the building was already dead, and they proceeded to try and escape.
However, when the roof of the building was blown off by Arakiya, Todd changed his plans and made for City Hall with Jamal. With Arakiya having been defeated, she was left imprisoned in the cells below the building. Sneaking inside, Todd killed several imperial soldiers before arriving at the cells. With Jamal confronting Holly, Todd grabbed Arakiya. Having defeated Holly, Jamal tried to kill her, but Todd said to leave her, and they made for their escape.
Having heard of the Spirit Eater’s escape, the People of Shudrak began searching for her, and they found Todd with Arakiya in his arms. They began firing arrows at them, leaving Todd no room to breathe. Ducking into a nearby alley, he made a plan with Jamal. Deciding to use him as bait, Jamal was left to defend against all of the arrows being fired, and eventually, he was brought down and imprisoned. Meanwhile, Todd successfully escaped from Guaral.
Aftermath[]
With Guaral now as the Rebel Army’s base for the war, Abel set to obtain Priscilla’s assistance for the coming battles. As for Subaru, due to Todd’s actions, he was devastated by the loss of life he’d brought with him, and after speaking with Rem, that feeling got worse, as she claimed he was not a hero, a statement that felt to him as though she were taking back what she’d told him before her memory loss. However, with some assistance from Al, he was able to resolve himself to become her hero again, and he went to speak with Abel and Priscilla.
During their discussion, Priscilla refused to give her assistance until Abel managed to gain more insurance for the war effort, namely obtaining the assistance of several members of the Nine Divine Generals. Realizing the task would be difficult, they decided to set their sights on Chaosflame and its ruler, the Seventh of the Nine Divine Generals, Yorna Mishigure. Afterward, Abel, Subaru, Al, Taritta, and Medium, and unbeknownst to them, Rui, set off for their journey to the Demon City, while Rem remained with Priscilla. As for Todd, having spun his lies around Arakiya, he managed to sway her to help him return to the Imperial Capital, where Berstetz promoted him for rescuing Arakiya, making him her direct subordinate and setting him on his new task in Ginunhive.
Following the Fall of Guaral, rumors regarding the person responsible for orchestrating the city's capture, the black-haired maiden "Natsumi Schwartz", began spreading throughout the Empire. Guaral's fall served as a precursor to the Flying Dragon Cataclysm spearheaded by Madelyn Eschart at Prime Minister Berstetz's instruction.